Encounters in Theatre and Liberature: B.S. Johnson and Zenkasi

In his essay-manifesto of 1999, Zenon Fajfer defined liberature – a literary genre encompassing works whose authors intentionally design the shape of the book, so that it matches their textual message. Extending beyond the growing literary research on liberature, this book presents the theatrical contexts of the genre. Grounded in original archival research, it discusses the theatre practice of Zenon Fajfer and Katarzyna Bazarnik (Zenkasi), as well as the post-war British avant-garde author, B.S. Johnson, whom they see as a liberatic author avant la lettre. Tracking the connections between their work in different media, the monograph considers how their theatrical experience may be related to the invention of unconventional aesthetic solutions in literature.

“Encounters in Theatre and Liberature is an important and valuable contribution.”

From the review by Prof. Dariusz Kosiński, Jagiellonian University

“This […] book is original, challenging, thoroughly researched and fully deserves to be

published.”

From the review by Prof. Vanessa Guignery, École Normale Supérieure de Lyon

Katarzyna Biela is a research and teaching assistant at the Institute of English Studies of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. This is her debut scholarly monograph, resulting from research as part of the Diamond Grant entitled “B.S. Johnson and Liberature.”